Home Exchange.

Home Exchange, a Great Way to Holiday, article by Helen Bergstein.

Let's face it: travel accommodations are rarely the highlight of your trip. Many hotels and motels look the same, and after a while they are just a place to hang your hat.

Even quaint bed-and-breakfast style accommodations or boutique hotels can start to look alike, especially if you love to travel often.

If you want to experience adventure at every level of your next trip, you need to go beyond the usual resorts and places to stay.If you're like most travelers, personal safety remains a priority, especially in today's world.

A growing number of savvy travelers have found the perfect balance between adventure and comfort. They have traveled to the heart of the most exciting places around the world. They stay in palaces overlooking oceans, in rustic Maine cottages, and in traditional local homes.

They get to see what most travel package tourists never see, but they feel perfectly safe as they travel. Who are these intrepid trekkers? They are home exchangers. Home exchange is not new, but the ways that travelers are approaching it certainly is novel.

Today, services such as the Digsville Home Exchange Club allow would-be travelers to check for home exchange possibilities online and even meet their potential hosts "virtually" before leaving on vacation. Many emails, perhaps a few phone calls hashing out the details of your trade and you'll be feeling like old friends by the time your arrive at your new home away from home. Most people who are interested in this type of travel admit that it's off the beaten path, but few would have it any otherway.

Just imagine yourself living in some of the homes as your browse the listings on the online swap communities. If you are up for adventure, there is a penthouse apartment available just outside of Tokyo for home swappers. With views of the Pacific and Mt. Fuji, it is only steps from a hot surfing location. It's the perfect spot to explore Shinto shrines, restaurants, the old capital of Japan, markets, hills, gardens, and shops.

If that is not to your liking, you could stay at a Tuscan villa located next door to Cape Town's Cape Point Nature Reserve. From this spot, you could literally watch sea otters, dolphins, seals, whales, and other animals right in your "own" back yard. You could always truly "get away from it all" by staying in a remote stone house in Provence, with views of Mt. Ventoux, the Dentelles de Montmirail and Luberon mountains and access to some of the best wineries in the region.

Whatever your tastes, whatever your definition of adventure and excitement - whether it's a quiet villa all to yourself or a safari - you can find a home exchanger who can bring you right into the center of the experience.

If you are worried about staying safe in someone else's home, you really shouldn't be. Online community members rave about the comforts of being far away from obvious "tourist traps" and often praise the safety and comfort they feel in a host's home. Just imagine, you're an invited guest anywhere in the world you choose to travel. Many hosts even have friends and family drop by during an exchange to help their exchange partners out if needed.

As Digsville.com member K.M. from Bethpage, LI finds, "thanks to my exchange partner introducing me to his friends and neighbors, I have help when I need it and lovely company if I so desire." This makes home swapping perfect for those who want some adventure but without the risk of more "extreme" forms of travel.

Home exchange is very well suited to baby boomer who are more likely than other travelers to have secondary homes and vacation homes they can exchange. Rather than letting that secondary home stay vacant, you could swap it for the vacation of your dreams. Non-simultaneous exchanges are on the rise due to the increasedchances of finding a suitable swap on your schedule - there aremore options than ever before.

If you're ready for the same old vacation, go ahead and book your usual hotel. If you are ready for adventure and real meaning when traveling, though, look to home exchanges. Few such affordable opportunities allow you to see and experience so muchfor just a little effort.

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